All or none
by PippaFrost
Summary: "I'm Matsuno Jyushimatsu" There was silence. Everyone in the village knew what brother was who. Everyone in the village knew that the one talking was Matsuno Karamatsu. Not one dared say a word. Osomatsu has spent all his life doing his best to keep his family out of the eyes of the Capital, but there's only so much you can do until it all comes crushing down.
1. Chapter 1

**Hiii ! I'm back! But only for a minute! So for those who follow my other stories i'm so sorry i haven't updated! This year's been really hard (we had like two months of no classes because of protests on our uni so we had to vote every week and i had to study a lot! So any free time i got i used to draw like crazy cause i finally got the opportunity to do so! And i had always wanted to draw like that even before i even started writing, so sorry for leaving the fics for a while) I will update them once the semester is over which will be around Christmas! Sorry it will take so long! But know that i have a few chapters ready for most of the stories (the only one i'm not writing for is Getting to know you cause i decided that one will have to wait until And who you were is over, for which i have like three chapters ready for that have only a few things left but i'll worry about those during the next holidays)**

 **Oh btw, i'll soon change the story img for one i drew myself, but it's not ready yet!**

 **Now, this is my first Osomatsu san fic (and first anime fic ever) so please be nice :)**

 **I just had this idea and i couldn't get it out of my head and i jst had to write it! And i've got to get it out there before the semester starts cause then i won't have time for anything! D:**

 **I hope you guys like it! (i'm on tumblr as pippa-frost in case you wanna check it out! i'll be making drawings of this)**

* * *

Jyushimatsu was the fastest out of the six of them. Always had been and would probably always be. So he was the one running towards the forest like his life depended on it. Faster, actually. Cause it wasn't his life the one in then line, but one of his brother's.

And all because of him…

Trying not to let the sobs forcing their way out of his mouth take the little air he needed to keep running, he made his way through the shortcuts he and his brothers knew by heart.

He just had to find Osomatsu nii-san. Simple as that. He just had to find him and everything would be alright.

Please… please let it all be alright…

…

Osomatsu was hunting when it all happened.

It was only on rare occasions that you would find him hunting alone in the forest. Usually he and his brothers wouldn't separate like that. They would try to at least stay in pairs. It was necessary after all.

But for whatever reason he had decided to go hunting on his own. Their mother had just left a few days ago to a near town to sell some products so it was just the six of them in the house, and being the NEETs they unapologetically were, they had only thought about hunting to sell and had completely forgotten about dinner for themselves – who could blame them, mom was the one to sort all those things out even when they were short on meat, and it kind of hadn't crossed their minds that she had left the day before.

So they had gone two – or was it three? – days with no meet for dinner, which wasn't so bad since they had plenty of rice from the latest exchange, but they were soon to get bored of such dull meals (dull for a group of six 'adult' boys, that is).

Now, they could have waited two more days until it was time to hunt again, but they all wanted meat and Osomatsu was sick of rise himself. So, being a small affair he had decided to make a quick trip to the forest in order to be back home with some tasty treats for the next two days before they all went out again.

You see, the village where they lived was one of the smallest ones, yet it was fairly known for the products you could find there, so as long as you had things to sell you were alright. If not, you could at least hunt your own food freely in the forest around the area. And that's what they did. They would hunt through the forest in order to have things to sell and food in the table.

Besides, with at least a bunch of people being earth-linked souls you had yourself a few advantages: water, electricity, crops, fire. It went on and on. Now, this is not to say that such amenities would be found anyplace you went. No. Osomatsu and his brothers had been lucky enough to be born in a tiny, secluded village for there not to be any conflicts between the villagers or have the eyes of the Capital on them.

Things were fairly calm. They all helped with chores, both at home and around the whole village, they would hunt for food, and then do mostly nothing the whole day. Life was nice like that for them.

That isn't to say that everything was perfect, of course not, but if you're lucky enough not to have problems, then why would you seek them out? That's kind of taking life's good graces and throwing them out of the window, quite rude if you asked Osomatsu.

Yes, they weren't exactly free. Yes, they did live in fear to a certain degree; always with the nagging uncertainty of whether this would be the day soldiers came from the Capital to recruit new people; for what… no one knows.

But as long as you ignored that, life was pretty great if Osomatsu said so himself, which meant the same went for his brothers. Sure there were some disputes from time to time, but he was the oldest and if he said they were fine, then they were _fine_.

Even if the rebellion seemed to be getting bigger and with that closer even to small villages such as theirs. Even if the Capital kept on capturing rebels and making a big show out of it. Even if that show started to include people that had nothing to do with it.

People such as his friends around the village. People such as his brothers.

Still. Everything was fine. Osomatsu made right darn sure about that. He would never let things become not fine.

Until they did.

Right under his nose.

…

"What's going on?" Todomatsu asked as the guards made everyone gather around the center of the village right near the well. They could all see the men around them with their big guns and special clothing, sure to protect them from fire and lightning alike.

"Shush" Choromatsu told him as they made their way through the people "It must be a check up or something, don't worry. Just stay calm"

The people in front of them came to a stop and so did they. They were not quite in the front lines but still close enough to see what was happening in front of the crowd. Karamatsu was in front of them along with Choromatsu. Ichimatsu, Jyushimatsu and Todomatsu were right behind them.

"As you all know" a broad man with long black beard started "Our Capital has successfully caught a few more rebels. They will pay the price for going against the absolute reign. To celebrate this, our authorities have organized a competition. To show the revolutionaries the meaning of right and wrong and what happens when you do wrong"

Here Ichimatsu couldn't help to scoff along with two other people and Karamatsu was fast to fake a sneeze to cover it up as Choromatsu elbowed his younger brother on the ribs.

"Keep it together" he whispered with force after his 'sneeze', making Ichimatsu lower his eyes to the ground. They could all understand though. Wrong. What a sick way to use the concept. If Karamatsu was honest to himself, he could barely contain the proud snicker at Ichi's show of disapproval. His brother was one brave idiot. Just like the rest of them.

"Our leaders are sure all of you, as proud citizens of the Realm, will be glad to help this cause" the man finished, followed by mutterings of the villagers in answer to what he had just said. The brothers looked at each other. They could tell things were about to get bad.

Karamatsu could feel the fear surrounding them all and he couldn't help but wonder where Osomatsu may be. He knew his brother was currently hunting in the forest, but he couldn't decide whether he'd rather have him here or out there. If his older brother was here, things could go wrong real soon, real fast. However, if Osomatsu was here, he wouldn't feel as scared as he did at the moment.

"With this in mind" the man continued. He seemed to be enjoying the atmosphere "We will be recruiting a few villagers from different towns and valleys"

Shit.

Choromatsu felt his heart stop and Todomatsu's hand grab his arm. Karamatsu felt both Jyushimatsu and Ichimatsu grab his hoodie as well. Both he and Choro couldn't help but stiffen while unconsciously spreading their stance in front of their brothers, making sure to cover them from sigh.

"Karamatsu nii-san" Choromatsu whispered in fear. Karamatsu straighten and stayed quiet but he made sure to glance at him with a small smile. He wouldn't let anything happen to them. Of that they could be sure.

The green brother seemed to deflate in relief, but the worry didn't leave his shoulders.

"In this case" a woman dressed in grey clothes stepped forward next to the man who had been talking so far "We'll be calling you according to your abilities" and at this a few huffs of relief could be heard from those who didn't have any earth linked talents.

"We have a list here regarding each of you and your elements. If you hear your name being called you're to step forward and lineup next to Lieutenant Hatake" she said we a nod towards the big black bearded man "First we have…"

The woman started to name a few people and they could see a few of their neighbors starting to gather in front of them in a line. They would walk as slowly as possible, trying their hardest to delay the inevitable.

"Shit, what do we do?" Choromatsu asked his older brother anxiously "What if they calls one of us?"

"Don't worry Brother, we'll figure something out" Kara assured him "But we have to tell Osomatsu what's happening"

"How?" Todomatsu asked them. He was gripping Choro's arm with all his might, legs trembling in fear "They'll never let one of us leave!"

"They will. When we left the house they saw there were only five of us, we just have to say the right words and they'll let one of us go fetch him. I'll make sure of it"

"Yeah? Well you better make it quick, Kusomatsu" Ichimatsu muttered while looking around "cause they're starting to glance our way"

"Okay, you're the fastest out of all of us, come with me J-"

"Matsuno Jyushimatsu. Air element" the woman's voice rang through the crowd.

…No…

It was like a bomb. Time went still and everything around them became silent. They all felt the air leave their lungs and a cold fist grab their hearts.

"Ah…" Jysuhimatsu muttered in shock and fear as Ichimatsu grabbed his arm protectively, ready to make a run for it. Todomatsu was about to start crying and Choromatsu could only look at his older brother for an answer, for anything to do in order to fix it. What do we do?! _What do we do?!_

Karamatsu just felt cold.

They were all about to voice everything running through their heads and make it all go to hell when suddenly all came to stop in the form of a step.

In one swift movement, Karamatsu took a step forward blocking all of his brothers, left arm outstretched to the side either to protect them or stop them from moving behind him.

"I'm Matsuno Jyushimatsu"

There was silence. Everyone in the village knew what brother was who. Everyone in the village knew that the one talking was Matsuno Karamatsu. Not one dared say a word.

"N-nii-san!" Todomatsu was the first to react with an anguished cry as he leapt forward towards his second oldest brother. Just as his way was blocked by Choromatsu's arm he stopped in tracks as his brother answered him.

"Todomatsu" Kara said evenly, glancing at him without moving the rest of his body from his previous stance before them. His eyes were wide open and his expression dead serious. He could see each of their expressions. Jyushi had his eyes wide open in sheer horror, Ichimatsu holding onto him with a desperate look, Todomatsu had pain written all over his features and he could see Choro looking at him with confused and terrified eyes "Go get Osomatsu" he said in a lower voice looking at the latter in the eye.

He then glanced forward again and started walking towards the woman in grey only stopping once he was right in front of her.

"Well, I'm the Jyushimatsu you're thinking of" he said after bowing "I'm sorry, but there must have been a mistake" he said tersely, the opposite to any other times he tried to talk seriously or most importantly tried to lie.

Yes, he sucked at lying, and yes, he might be overly dramatic or 'painful' in his brothers' words, but if there was one thing Karamatsu could do, that was acting.

"What are you talking about?" the woman asked skeptically.

"I'm Matsuno Karamatsu, but I'm the one with air abilities. My brother Jyushimatsu is a water user. Someone must have switched us in your list" he said confidently, so much so that the woman checked her list again.

"It says here that you're the water user and he the air one" she said with a frown and distrustful eyes.

"Nii-san!" he heard Jyushimatsu wail.

"Prove it" the woman sentenced.

So he gingerly took his leather string from his neck and rested it on his hand before lifting it with air.

"See. My brother is the water user. I'm the air user."

"Hmm" the lady pondered for a minute "Fair enough. Go stand with the others"

"No! Nii-san!" he heard Jyushi yelling. He could hear people trying to stop his brother from making more of a ruckus and he couldn't help but be thankful of their neighbors for trying to stop the guards' attention from reaching his little brother, even if it was for their own good, he didn't really care. Still, he spared a glance at Choro with a silent command to get Jyushimatsu to stop. One wrong move and they could take him too anyway.

Choromatsu met his eyes with pain in his expression and a determined set of the yaw. That's all Karamatsu could make himself see before having to avert his eyes. He couldn't look at the rest of his brothers. He couldn't bear to see them crying and struggling. Otherwise he would start to cry and struggle himself, and that was a death sentence for the lot of them.

No. He had to do this. He couldn't chicken out when he was so close.

Once he was at the line of other called villagers he forced himself to look to where his brothers were. He could see Choro looking straight at him with teary eyes but unwilling to let any tears fall. He couldn't help to smile, his brother was brave like that. A little behind him each one at each side of him he could see both Ichimatsu and Todomatsu looking at him. Ichimatsu looked pissed off while Totty had his lower lip trembling while squeezing Choro's left arm.

He smiled at them with what he hoped looked like a reassuring smile. Everything would be fine. He couldn't see Jyushi so he was probably already on his way to get Osomatsu.

He was so focused on watching his brothers that he didn't realize someone was talking to him until he felt a nudge on his arm.

Looking sideways and a little down he could see Chibita standing at his right.

"Chibita…" he whispered sadly. He felt like crying, when did Chibita get stuck in all this shit too?

"Don't look like a kicked puppy, idjit" the smaller man grumbled with crossed arms "it was bound to happen" he muttered lowly to himself looking at the ground.

"Heh, I guess you could say that" Kara answered in a sad tone himself looking towards his brothers again, where the three of them seemed to be discussing between each other.

"That was a brave thing you did. Stupid. But brave." He could see Chibita glancing at his brothers as well as him.

"Heh… I guess. Though stupid is probably fitter, huh?"

"Yeah, I could see Osomatsu wasn't with you guys. Man, when he hears about this he's gonna kill you before we can even try to die at this competition thing ourselves."

"Hah!" Karamatsu couldn't help to let a somewhat louder laugh at that, quickly covering it up with a cough. But man was Chibita right. If he ever survived this Osomatsu nii-san would strangle him with his bare hands.

He could see his brothers looking at him as if he had turned nuts or something after hearing him laugh. He just smiled at them again.

Now that he thought about it, he probably wouldn't get to see Osomatsu, if the ever shorting list of that woman was anything to go by. Well, is not like he really got to say goodbye to any of his brothers or his mother and father either. Smiling sadly to them didn't count as saying goodbye. If it was up to him he would go towards them right now and hug them and say all the words he currently had stuck in his throat.

 _I love you. Please be safe. Please remember me. Don't be sad. Don't feel guilty. Don't let this happen to any of you. I love you_ so goddamn much _._

"What about you Chibita?" he said with a quivering voice which his friend tactfully didn't mention "Who's gonna kick your ass once" he didn't say _if_ , if only for his friends' sake "they get the chance?"

Here it was Chibita's turn to laugh sadly.

"Can you see Iyami over there?" he nodded towards his right. Sure enough, following his line of sight the second sextuplet could see Iyami trembling from head to toes, snot and tears running down his face, which was set stubbornly in an angry expression "If it wasn't for the guards he would probably be here beating the shit out of me" he finished with a proud and nostalgic smile.

"Hmm" Karamatsu thought "Well, you are family after all"

"Heh, we're all just a bunch of idjits in a lost village" and Karamatsu couldn't help to agree with a silent laugh. That they sure were.

Just as he glanced up to watch his brothers again they both heard the voice of the man from before sound again.

"That will be all" the man said with a loud voice "All of you" he said to the ones who had been called out "Stay in that same line and walk towards the truck. You" he said glancing at the crowd now "You will stay here until you're told otherwise. Don't make a fuss." And that was asking a lot, because Karamatsu could see most of the villagers crying or looking ready to tear some of the soldiers apart for taking their families and friends away from them.

God, how he hoped no one did anything stupid. He wasn't overly excited about seeing someone he knew die today. But they all knew better than that. Or at least he hoped so. After all, he would be lying if he said he wouldn't do something stupid if it was one of his brothers standing in his shoes.

He was almost at the end of the line, so as they started to turn in the direction of the vehicle he looked at his brothers. They, too, seemed to be trying their best to hold on to their senses. His green brother was still standing in front of the other two but he didn't seem overly concerned on protecting instead of stopping them from moving forward. The three of them were quivering where they stood, but he could see Ichimatsu's anger and Todomatsu's need to run towards him in the movements. Instead, Choromatsu seemed to be doing everything in his power to tame the forces that were those two.

Man, he thought with a sad smile, he kind of preferred being here in the line that being on Choromatsu's shoes right now. Hah, well, that was a joke just for him, because if any of his brothers heard it they'd have his head.

He locked his eyes with theirs in one final goodbye and tried to communicate everything he could into that finally contact. _I love you. Wait for Osomatsu nii-san. Everything will be fine. Please don't do anything stupid. Follow their orders. Be safe. Keep them safe Choromatsu, I'm entrusting them to you now._

 _…tell Osomatsu I'm sorry._

He can't be sure, but something in his brothers' eyes tells him they all get the message, even if the sight is kind of blurry on both sides, specially theirs as he can see Todomatsu sobbing freely, Ichimatsu crying quietly, and Choromatsu discreetly failing at keeping his tears to himself.

He turns around before they can see him crumble. He doesn't want that to be the last they see of him. He can feel Chibita sniffing behind him. He can hear the people crying and give out an air of helplessness at the injustice of it all.

They're getting closer to the truck, only three more people and it will be him surrounded by shadows of an unknown vehicle taking him to an unknown future. Probably a bad one. But hey, he's a positive man and he'll stay like that at least until he's out of his dear brothers' sight. Specially the younger ones.

Oh, but how he wishes to see Jyushi's smile one more time. And what he wouldn't give to see his older brothers face before leaving.

He hopes…

"KARAMATSU!"

The scream tears him away from his thoughts and before he knows it he has snapped around towards the call.

It sounds mad, it sounds furious, it sounds livid, it sounds red.

It sounds like his Brother.

And sure enough, there he is. Standing in front of everyone else having made his way through the crowd probably by sheer force, fists and kicks.

He's sweating, breathing erratically, huffing and puffing, eyes almost red somehow with the sun and emotion shining in them. Right behind him the rest of his brothers have made their way through the little sea of people behind him, just as frantic as the eldest. Jyushimatsu is there as well, right behind Osomatsu's right outstretched arm. He has both arms outstretched and slightly lowered by his sides, as if ready to stop any of his brothers from making a leap forward or any guard making their way towards one of their brothers.

"KARAMATSU, YOU FUCKER!" he takes a step forward, the guards around them stiffing in response "What the fuck have you done now, huh? I leave you guys for a minute and somehow you're able to end up in this mess?!" he cries in a fury.

But this is Osomatsu, his only older brother. And he knows him better than anyone. Even better than Choromatsu. And he can hear the tremble in his voices and the hitching of his breath and see the moisture in his eyes.

And he almost starts crying as well, he can feel his lower lip trembling. But he can't. If someone has to be strong for the eldest it's him. It's always been him. That's his job as the second. He's the one the oldest can count on to share the weight with.

And that's all he ever wanted to do. And that's what he had done today.

So, as the person before him readies themselves to enter the bus, he sets his jaw and wills his eyes to somehow magically dry and he looks at his older brother openly before offering him the best smile he can muster at the moment.

And okay, it might be a sad excuse of the smile he wants to send his message through, but he will pat himself on the back anyway cause it's either that or start crying right there for his pathetic and failed attempts.

But he does it anyways cause what else can he do right now but smile at them? He doesn't know what this competition is about, he doesn't know where they're taking him, he's positively certain that ever seeing his brothers again in nothing short of a miracle, let alone ever returning from this alive.

So he smiles at his older brother, his only older brother, and waves.

"Karamatsu nii-san!" he hears Jyushimatsu wail, and he's as far from showing that open smile he loves so much, and it hurts, please my little Jyushimatsu, please just smile for me…

"Nii-san!" Todomatsu sobs.

"Kusomatsu!" Ichimatsu yells in anger, and Karamatsu is about to cry so he turns around once more to face the truck.

"Karamatsu nii-san!" Man, he's actually lost count of how many times Choro has called him nii-san today. He never thought he'd be so sad to hear it. _I'm sorry Choro, for scaring you this much…_

"Karamatsu!" and there's Osomatsu again, desperate, wild, ready to tear limb for limb.

And god he can't help it. They're calling for him, how can he ignore their call? And so he turns around once again and they're all looking at him with desperation but with determined eyes. And Jyushimatsu is smiling at him once more, it's broken and painful but he's trying, and Osomatsu is wielding that shit eating grin of his even if it's kind of lame and fake like that but he's trying too.

He has one foot inside the truck.

"We'll be waiting! You hear that?!" Osomatsu cries, demands "So you better hold on as well!" he somehow sobs and laughs at the same time. He is smiling.

Kara's now surrounded by the shadows of the vehicle.

His older brother is crying.

The doors close.

Osomatsu's expression is a grimace.

And they're off.

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 **So that's it, i hope you liked it!**

 **Hugs and snowflakes for all of you and lots of Karamatsus for you too! :D**

 **Bye!**


	2. What to do

**Hi! Sorry for the long wait! i actually have three more chapters done but i've been posting them on AO3 and forgot to do it here! D: i'm sorry!**

 **Guest: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR LOVELY REVIEW! IT MADE MY DAY! i hope you'll still like the ones coming now!**

 **Here we go!**

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Osomatsu's pretty sure he had never run as fast as he did that morning. He ran even faster than Jyushi who kept crying and hurrying behind him.

God, how could one day turn into such nightmare?

That day he had decided to go do some quick hunting in the morning so they'd finally have some meat for dinner. He would have gone after lunch, but he wanted to have a free afternoon, maybe play some card games with the others to celebrate having something more than rice to eat at night. So he and his brothers had shared some early breakfast before leaving the house, each of them going on their different ways.

To think that if only he had left the house in the afternoon, this could have all been prevented…

He had been hunting for about two hours when it happened. He already had some hares to take home, but he just wanted to try getting a big wild boar that had just caught his eye.

If he had just settled for the two hares and leave it at that, then maybe…

He was just about to pull the trigger when he heard his yellow brother's distinct 'Nii-san!' calling for him. The creature escaped of course, but he wasn't all that bothered about it. It was cool, now Jyushi could help him hunt some more before going back to the house. Not that he wouldn't ask him why the _hell_ he decided it would be a good idea to come looking for him on his own. That was okay though, he would ask him soon enough and make him promise to never do it again unless accompanied by one of the others.

"Jyushimatsu!" he said while standing up from his previous position on the ground, he had been taking cover before striking the final blow "What brings you here, huh? Wanted to spend some quality time hunting with onii-ch-"

And he can't help to do a double take. He doesn't know why he didn't recognize the desperation in his brother's previous call. He doesn't know how it was possible for him to miss the tremble in his voice and hitching in his breath when he had called for him, in anguish, in a hurry.

He's always been able to tell if something's happened just by listening to a word being muttered by his brothers. So why. Why was that day different. Why is it that, on the very day that it was a matter of life or death, his instincts failed him. Why. Why did it seem like the world wanted him to miss his brother?

 _Why_.

He stares in dread as his brother stops a few feet away from him. He is crying. No, he's wailing. He can see the sobs barely sparing him the time to draw in air. Tears are falling freely from his eyes, his big smile has been replaced by a horrible mid scream expression, snot runs freely from his nose and he barely seems able to keep himself on his feet, looking like he's about to collapse.

"J-jyushimatsu, wh-" dread fills his soul. Oh god. What is it? What could possibly-?

"K-ka-karamatsu nii-s-san…" he manages to make out.

And Osomatsu is running. Running faster than ever before. Crossbow and hares have been left behind just as any other thought Osomatsu might have had. His mind is blank. He can't think. He can only run. Faster. _Faster_.

Oh god, oh god. What could have possibly happened… what did Karamatsu do? What happened?!

And before he knows it he's stumbling, making his way through the crowd that has for some reason gathered in the center of their village. He vaguely realizes he passed some guards at some point. He vaguely realizes there're guards everywhere, people crying around him, his brothers turning around with desperate looks on their faces that seem to seek answers from him as soon as they realize his presence.

But he doesn't care. He doesn't care, and he stumbles and makes his way even through them, shoving them aside.

Because somehow, for some god forsaken reason, he can see Karamatsu in front of him, walking in a line of other people -poor bastards- making their way into a doomed destiny.

And he can see his brother's scalp and he can't, he _can't_. Karamatsu. Why is his brother leaving, why is his brother facing the other way? WHY?!

"KARAMATSU!" the scream is out of his mouth before he can even think of it. He's desperate, he's fucking furious. How the hell did this happen?! Why is his brother leaving with strangers, why are they here, what do they want, _why are they taking his brother?!_

He's having trouble breathing; he doesn't even know how he was able to scream in the first place with so little air making its way to his lungs. His eyes sting, everything on him feels on fire, and he just wants to scream and cry and tear and punch and _burn_ fucking everything to the ground.

But he can also feel his younger brothers around him and he still has to protect them even if he failed protecting the one that stands a few feet before him. And so he's ready for battle, arms by his sides blocking the rest of his brothers, he won't let any of them be taken as well.

"KARAMATSU, YOU FUCKER!" he steps forward and he vaguely sees the guards at his sides stiff in response "What the fuck have you done now, huh?" _What the fuck happened?!_ "I leave you guys for a minute and somehow you're able to end up in this mess?!" - _what the hell did you_ do _?! What the hell did_ they _do?!_ \- he cries in a fury.

And he can see, oh how he can see, his oldest younger brother look at him with such sympathy in his eyes, god the fucking moron, he's gonna kill him himself; as if it wasn't himself the one that was about to step into an unknown truck, a fucking _Capital's_ truck, like he wasn't the one who's being taken away, like somehow it's Osomatsu the one that right now needs to be comforted. What the fuck is his problem?!

And then the son of a bitch is smiling, fucking _smiling_ at him, as if to reassure him! Reassure him of _what_ exactly?! _Reassure me of the fact that you'll be alright even when you yourself don't even know where they're taking you?!_

And Osomatsu can see that the idiot has somehow taken control of his previous about-to-make-an-appearance tears, but he still sees the brokenness of his brother's smile clearly, still sees all the effort he's putting -for some goddamn reason that shouldn't really even exist- into smiling at him, to fucking _comfort_ him of all things!

He can see his little brother is scared, hell, he's probably fucking terrified, and he can see that he's not happy with the quality of his own attempts at smiling. And he feels like crying because _why?!_ _Why Karamatsu?! Why do you have to be so stupid?!_

 _You're stupid and a sentimental idiot, and you're dramatic, and painful and you're a freaking scary cat who hides behind me or even Choro, and you can't even fucking get yourself to kill a spider and sometimes when the fucking hares have moved your heart enough you make extra noise on purpose so they can escape from the rest of us, and you like to fucking_ sew _, who the hell_ likes _that?! Not even Totoko-chan likes it! And you don't like violence and you_ hate _to be separated from us, and you hate not_ knowing _what's going to happen and you're_ dramatic _and_ painful _and_ stupid _and an_ idiot _who thinks himself some kind of hero and yet you're fucking_ smiling _!_

 _Why aren't you crying, why aren't you begging and kicking and screaming and calling for us? Calling for_ me _?! Why aren't you fucking_ fighting _Karamatsu?!_

But he knows the answer, of course he does.

And before he has time to dwell on it the fucking moron is fucking waving. _Waving_. Who the fuck does he thinks he is?! What the fuck gives him the right to do this?! This isn't a fucking good bye! This isn't a fucking day to day thing where you innocently say 'see you later'! They are taking him the fuck away from them, from his brothers, from his family.

And if there's one thing that Karamatsu loves more than anything, more than clothes or compliments or painful lines or himself even, it's _them_!

And he's saying fucking goodbye!

 _He's fucking giving up!_

"Karamatsu nii-san!" he hears Jyushimatsu wail behind him by his right. He has to beat his lower lip in order not to scream in frustration along with his little brother.

"Nii-san!" Todomatsu, somewhere behind him as well.

"Kusomatsu!" Ichimatsu yells in what he probably wants to pass as for anger but is mere fear. Raw horror.

And Oso sees Karamatsu turn back towards that fucking vehicle again, and he doesn't miss the tremble of his shoulders and grimace of his face as he turns around thinking they can't see him anymore.

"Karamatsu nii-san!" he feels Choromatsu calling behind him too. God, it's been a long while since his second brother has sounded so vulnerable. He sees Karamatsu flinch at the call. Yeah, he caught the vulnerability too. He's Choro's older brother too after all.

And he can't. He can't let Karamatsu turn away from them like this. Not like this. He won't let him.

"Karamatsu!" he calls as firm as he can right now, doing everything in his power to keep the breaking of his voice to himself.

And it's enough for Karamatsu to give in. He's always sucked at denying anything to them, maybe he can say no to Oso from time to time, only in rare occasions though, but never to his younger siblings, never to them, not even now; Oso just had to push a little to break his front.

Osomatsu sees him turn around once more and he can see Kara's pain raw and clear. He hopes the others aren't as lucky, because it's like a punch to the gut.

He sees the pain in Kara's eyes but he also sees the moment something changes and something akin to wonder and gratefulness and happiness – _happiness_ , in a moment like this- cross his sight in that order.

But he can't take his time to wonder about it. There's no time.

So he smiles. He smiles for him as confidently as he can. How he hopes it looks as good as he wants it to. It probably looks kind of lime though, huh Kara?

His brother has one foot set inside the black truck.

He feels like crying then and there. His breath hitches and his grin quivers with the threat of falling apart, his cheeks hurt with the force of trying to keep the farce up just for a little longer. _Just a little longer_. There's no time. He has to say it now or he won't!

"We'll be waiting! You hear that?!" he calls, loud and clear. _We won't let you leave us. Not like this. We won't let this be that kind of goodbye_. He won't cry, he can't cry, not yet. Not yet "So you better hold on as well!" the mask falls apart. Whatever's been stuck in his throat this whole time finally wins the battle and a sob makes it through the statement that he was trying to pass off as normal with a laugh. He wants to keep things normal. He _needs_ to.

But it's still clear though. It's not a statement. It's a demand. It's an order.

His brother is still looking at him as he steps into the vehicle fully. He's now surrounded by shadows and looks as lost as Oso feels.

He wants to laugh, to grin mischievously at his brother, to look confident so Kara'll feel as much himself. But he can't. He instead feels his expression crumble over his face. It hurts. Everything hurts.

Fat hot tears run through his cheeks and he feels the skin on his face contorting into something abnormal. It hurts. But it's not really his face that's hurting.

The doors close.

He feels everything sort of pulling. He wants to follow. He just wants to stop them. They're taking his _brother_. They're taking him from him.

And the horde is off with a part of their village. More importantly, with a part of themselves.

And Osomatsu can't even scream.

…

Karamatsu feels void. It's like being inside a dream. He doesn't want to believe in what just happened. In less than a few hours his whole life has been turned upside down. And it's damn hard to assimilate. It's almost impossible. But the platform he's sitting on is nothing but real. The little hits his back gets with the movements of the car are real. The shadows that surround him are very much real. The people around him don't look any less real than he feels.

Chibita's weight against his side is real too.

But, oh, how he wishes he'd just gone suddenly insane. I'd be easier to accept. They'd taken fourteen of them from the village. He could count them all around him. It looks like a car of the dead, and as far as he's concern it might as well be so.

Most of them are around his age and old adults. The oldest man is Old Man Kogami, he knows him cause he's the man that usually sells pears to his mother. Karamatsu's pretty sure he's about sixty something years old. What could they possibly want from him? The government has all their information, if they knew their elements then they sure as hell knew their ages. What would they want such an old person for? What cruel things could they possibly have in mind?

It's been about twenty minutes since they started the journey and he hasn't really cried all that much. Chibita has done so enough for the two of them quietly by his left side. The rest of the people seem to be in a state of detachment much similar to his. You can't quite cry about something you can't truly get yourself to believe, after all.

It was morning when these people came to their village. It's about to be lunch time soon, he can tell by the place the sun has in the sky which he can see through the grille of the little window above their heads. Small enough for them to see a little of the outside world but not enough for the shadows to recede.

Chibita is now quiet by his side. Everyone is crying. It's like a funeral of sorts. He's never been to a funeral before, he can't help to think, least of all to his own.

…

Things stay quiet as the rest of the cars start to get ready to take off as well.

Osomatsu is trembling in pure rage, fists clenched at his sides doing their best not to let any sparks escape; there are still soldiers around after all.

He doesn't scream. He wants too. He shouldn't, because the guards would probably do something about it and that would be a very wrong and stupid move for him to do. He can't, because he doesn't have any air left. Behind him Jyushi has fallen to his knees and is crying openly, head facing the sky, mouth wide open mid wails.

Luckily, the guards don't seem to pay him any mind. Either his brother's cries are amusing enough for them not to interfere or because he looks so miserably lost that they know he can't possibly represent a threat. Osomatsu is not sure which reason he hates the most.

The people around them are already mourning. People are crying quietly against each other or to themselves.

He knows the rest of his brothers are crying behind him as well. From the corner of his eye he's surprised to see that there's no one consoling his yellow clad sibling. Instead of doing so, Ichimatsu is standing to a side head to the ground, bangs covering his eyes, fists clenched and shoulders shaking, but all in all silent.

To the other side there's Choromatsu in pretty much the same position except his face is resting over Todomatsu's head in a silent gesture of comfort as the latter hides his face against his brother's neck, sobbing as quietly as he can, trembling all over.

So they stay like that until all those bastards finally leave. The whole of them.

Even then, however, no one dares speak.

The villagers kept quiet until a few of them started heading home. Surely to finally let their anguish manifest freely. Osomatsu could see just a few looking their way as if silently debating whether or not to offer some words of comfort or something. He was glad no one did. It was hard enough to keep himself in line as it was without some random foolish person with a wrong sense of duty come invade their space.

The center of town was pretty much empty when he could finally mutter a sound.

"Goddamnit" Osomatsu cries through clenched teeth. He's still holding himself back so that only a few sparks leave his fists when he finally talks. He feels his brothers flinch, all except for Ichimatsu that is.

He breathes in deeply before turning around to face his siblings.

"What. Happened?" he mutters. Choromatsu lifts his head to glance at him with confused and lost eyes filled with tears. He wants answers and that certainly ain't one "I asked" a few sparks splatter from his fists "What. Happened?!" he ends up yelling.

They all flinch now, Jyushimatsu even stopping his sobs for one second before continuing anew. This time it sounds even harder. He can see a snarl on Ichimatsu's mouth.

He feels his temper rise with new strength. Small flames start to come out of his fists.

How the fuck did this happen?! Everything was fine! Everything was fucking dandy and then suddenly everything had gone to hell! His brother was fucking gone and he didn't even know the reason!

"What the fuck happened?!" he demanded from his brothers standing over them "Tell me! Now!"

"I-i.. Nii-s- h-he" Jyushimatsu started, trying to speak through his tears.

"Goddamn it, spit it out!"

"Osomatsu-" Choro started reproachingly.

"No! No 'Osomatsu nii-san' bullshit, what the fuck just happened?!"

"They wanted- they came to take people" Todomatsu cried in anguish "They-they were going to take J-jyushimatsu nii-san, but… but…" he babbled on.

"Karamatsu nii-san took Jyushimatsu's place…" Choromatsu muttered looking at the ground.

And just like that it all stopped. The flames starting to grow bigger and bigger around him seemed to disappear in the blink of an eye. If was like a bucket full of ice had been thrown on him. He actually felt cold. And void. Blank.

How were you supposed to react to that? He can't really get past the thought enough to have a reaction.

He took Jyushi's place.

He took Jyushi's _place_.

He took… he took _Jyushi's_ _place_ …

Before he knows it, his fists are full of fire and he's hot all over and he has to get out of here before he does something he'll regret. But he can't really move, to be honest. It's like his body hasn't really come to terms with the realization.

He vaguely hears Choromatsu's hesitant voice calling him.

But before he can answer he's already making his way towards the forest. He can't- he just can't deal with this right now, he can't pretend everything will be alright right now; he can't be strong for them right now, not after hearing this.

He hears Todomatsu calling for him and it hurts, it hurts because it's like turning his back on Karamatsu. What would Karamatsu think of him after only a few hours ago going as far as to take his brother's place in order to protect him, and yet he can't even appease his brothers' cries.

God. He's awful.

He's still making his way towards the forest in seemingly calm steps.

"Go back to the house. Now" and that's all he's able to say. He doesn't turn around to make sure his orders are followed. He just kept walking.

He doesn't know for how long he walks until he's suddenly on his knees. There's fire all around him and yet he still feels like freezing. He doesn't need to hear the tears boiling over his skin to know that he's crying. He looks at his hands, all blurry from the heat and vapor.

Karamatsu.

He sees his brother's smiling face in front of him, making some dramatic pose, letting a fucking hare out of the trap Osomatsu spent his fucking time doing. He sees his solemn face, his serious face. The one that's actually scary and kind of cool when it's not directed at him.

He sees Karamatsu smiling brokenly at him and waving.

His fists clench before him and the heat increases and now… oh _now_ his body knows what to do about the situation.

He screams. He fucking yells. He yells and kicks and screams and punches the ground, everything around him catching fire and this is just fan-fucking-tastic, isn't it?! It's so fucking hilarious that he even starts to laugh. Because it's funny, isn't it?! It's funny because he's fucking livid and if there's one fucking person than can calm him down when not even fucking Fappymatsu has been able to, well surprise _surprise_! It's fucking Karamatsu, who even has the right element so that when his words and fists don't work he can just fucking put his flames out and stop him from 'ruining such beautiful forest'.

And it's fucking dandy because it's _that_ freaking brother the one missing, the one that isn't here to calm him the fuck down. To look at him disapprovingly after turning his back on his brothers when they needed his comfort, who's strong enough physically to fucking force Osomatsu to get his shit together and then fucking feels guilty about punching his big brother on the face when he totally deserved it.

The one that would make Jyushi stop crying and the others feel a little more at ease and then go whack Osomatsu on the back of the head and get him back home so that they could act like nothing really happened and then everything would be okay again.

But that's the thing, isn't it? It won't. It won't because fucking Karamatsu is not here. He's not here. And no one was ever supposed to not be here along with the rest of them. They're a unit. Fucking sextuplets and now somehow there's one fucking painful idiot inside a truck, four broken crybabies near the well in the center of their village and one fucking fucker burning everything around him in the forest. Where literally _everything_ that can possibly catch on fire _will actually catch_ on fire because everything in the fucking forest can cause a fucking fire!

And Karamatsu would probably be crossing his arms and pouting about how Osomatsu just burnt some fucking flowers that were not to blame for his fucking explosive temper and then he would laugh at his own lame pun and it would be so fucking stupid and lame that Osomatsu would be too dumbstruck to remember why the hell he was so pissed off in the first place! But it doesn't happen because Karamatsu's not here and that's something he could never, _ever_ forget to be pissed off about.

He has half a mind to just follow that fucking truck and fucking kill all those son of bitches only so he can beat the crap out of the fucking second born and then maybe the rest of his brothers just for good measure. Maybe then he could pretend he was beating himself up instead of them.

Because oh, if he could burn when fire touches him how he'd like to be feeling pain right now. If he had only been with them. If he had only waited until they all went hunting together, rice for two more days was no fucking problem as long as he had five heads to have dinner with. And yet he hadn't. He had left them fucking alone. Less than an hour, that's all it took and his mistake might never be corrected.

And the fucker had smiled. He had _smiled_.

His flames might not be burning as hot as he had previously thought, as he can feel hot tears running down his face.

God, he _hates_ this.

 _He hates himself_.

…

Choromatsu and the others do as told. He's not about to follow his brother when he knows that if anyone had half a chance of getting his brother to calm down it would be Karamatsu. And isn't that some nice and sweet kick in the nuts?

They get inside the house and it all seems darker. They should be eating lunch, he vaguely thinks, and he kind of hates himself for thinking of that instead of in his second older brother. However, it occurs to him then that none of them have had anything to eat since breakfast and that includes said sibling. How long has it been since breakfast? What time is it again?

… _Is Karamatsu nii-san hungry?_

And a few tears fall at the mere thought of it. He doesn't know if his brother will get any food wherever he's being taken.

He sits in the living room staring into nothing. Jyushi and Todomatsu go to their room and throw themselves over the futon to keep sobbing freely. They're inconsolable.

Ichi is in a far corner of the room although strangely enough not the one he usually uses. A voice in his head that for some reason sounds a lot like Karamatsu tells him his younger brother could have gone into any other room and do whatever he needs doing in solitude yet he chose a crowded room. This must be his way of showing Choro that he's there for him, you know, just in case.

His stomach growls and he hates it too. _Who cares if you're hungry stomach, shut the fuck up._

He stares into the opposite wall still, not really moving, just cursing his hunger in his head. How dare he feel hungry anyway? How _dare_ he?

How dare Osomatsu leave in a fury when there're more important things at hand? How dare himself be questioning his brother's reactions when he himself isn't even wailing like he should be doing. His brother's just been taken away and all he can do is share a few tears?

Don't you care about your brother at all, Choromatsu? What the fuck is _wrong_ with you huh? What the fuck is wrong with everything?

Why? Why?! Everything was _fine_. It was easy to ignore the injustice no matter how awful it was but now….

How dare they? Who the fuck do they think they are to take his brother away? They have just broken his whole family. They have just broken all his brothers and himself even if he's too much of a fucking awful person to even show it right.

They've just broken Todomatsu and Jyushimatsu, they've just broken Ichimatsu, he will probably not talk to anyone ever again, he will probably die of old age in that corner not having looked at someone in the eye ever again, too deep in his grief. Because, that's how he expresses himself, by escaping into himself. Choromatsu can't even do that.

It's as if he didn't care for his brother at all. What would Karamatsu nii-san think? He would worry of course, but how would he feel if he saw all his brothers suffering and yet saw Choro sitting there as if nothing was wrong.

How awful would that be… how hurtful would that be… god, he's just as bad as the people from the Capital, _worse_ even, because this is his _brother_ and he can't even cry for him right. He will barely cry for him at all! What kind of brother does that make him?! Sitting here like nothing, doing nothing to go comfort his little brothers, the ones Karamatsu gave everything for…

Oh god. Their mother. Someone will have to tell their mom. Someone will then have to tell their father…

Someone…

Someone's holding onto him and all his thoughts come to a halt. He lowers his head to his right side and sees Ichimatsu clinging to him for dear life. He's sobbing against his upper arm, shaking and so he maneuvers himself until he's clutching at him just as firmly, resting his face against his brother's disheveled hair.

And only now does he realize that he's a mess. That somewhere down the line he had started sobbing hard enough to rival Jyushi's wails in the other room.

And now he doesn't know if Ichimatsu came to him for comfort or for Choro's own sake. And he doesn't really care either. He's grateful for it anyways. And he's so _relieved_. So relieved, because he's at least crying for his brother now, just like he deserves to be cried for. And so he clings to his younger brother and wails just as hard as Jyushi's been doing.

He doesn't want to be a big brother right now. He's not like Osomatsu, he's not a big brother first and foremost. And he's not like Karamatsu, he's not strong like that. He just wants to be a brother now, a regular brother and cry. Cry for his brothers, for all of them.

But he really wants to be held right now too. He really wants one of his older brothers right now. He has to be there for Ichi, but how he'd like to be being hugged by Kara or Oso as well.

Yet none of them are here…

…

Osomatsu calms down after about an hour, which seriously he should be praised for, he could have very well spent the rest of the day breaking havoc in the forest, but he didn't.

He couldn't. He's got things to do.

He gets inside the house mindful of his tear stained face. But he has to check on the others. He should have done so since the beginning.

He can hear Jyushi wailing freely in another room as he enters the main room. He sees Choro and Ichi hugging each other and he feels pride swelling inside him. And yet he was out there just throwing a tantrum, some big brother he was.

"Hey, NEETs" he calls in a tired voice. Choro sends him a bored and tired expression; he may possibly be angry but Osomatsu doesn't truly care right now. He calls for Jyushi and Todo to come and they do so with no shame of their expressions and tears. They all sit down on the table "I need you to tell me more. I need you to tell me every single detail."

Jysuhi's sobbing quietly, not ready to any more than that. He's clinging to Todomatsu who's still crying, but a little more calmly.

"They arrived saying something about how the Capital's captured a few more rebels" Choro started, Ichi still hiding against his side, he still has tears on his face but they're not falling from his eyes anymore "And that the Capital's going to celebrate it by organizing a competition of sorts"

Osomatsu's blood ran cold just then. He didn't know that. Shit.

"What?" Todomatsu asks fearfully. Apparently his curse was said out loud, _great job Oso_ , he thinks.

"Nothing, what else?"

"That was it. Then they started to call people for their names and elements" Choro says.

"And so they called Jysuhimatsu?" Osomatsu asked lowly, eyeing his brother who was hiding against the youngest.

"Yes" Choromatsu answered just as gloomily "But Karamatsu nii-san convinced them that there was a mistake on their sheet. He told them that he was the air user and Jyushi the water user"

 _Damnit, Karamatsu…_

"What is it Nii-san?" Todo asks desperately "What do you know?"

"Nothing" Osmatsu sighs "But if it's a competition we'll probably learn about in a few more hours. They probably weren't lying about it. If they just wanted to grab some villagers and take them they would have just done so and be done with it. So the competition thing will probably be some sort of big game"

"Great" Ichi spoke for the first time, his face still tucked against his brother "Then we'll get to see Kusomatsu on TV before he dies. Hurray."

There was a second of silence before Jyushimatsu started wailing anew, loud and clear.

"Shut up Ichimatsu!" Choromatsu cried in anger but still didn't move from his spot. Ichimatsu only flinched into himself.

"It's not true, right, Osomatsu nii-san? What's going to happen to Karamasu nii-san?" Todomatsu asked Osomatsu brokenly, staring at him with his big eyes, his voice wavering brokenly "What do we do?"

Osomatsu thought for a while before talking. That was the question he had been asking himself even since before calming down.

He already had an answer really, but that could wait. For now…

"There's nothing we can do…" he told them, quickly adding the last part before hell could break lose because of his answer "Not until we learn what all this is about. We have to wait for the Capital's announcement or whatever they'll be doing. The rebels were caught about a week ago, they've probably been planning this for a while. Let's see what they say tonight. Until then there's nothing we can do but hope for the best…"

"Don't worry" he added, even if it was kind of a stupid thing to ask "Karamatsu's strong" and yes, his brothers did flinch at the name "We'll get through this…"

They will. _He_ will get them through this, _even if it's the last thing I do_.

That, they can be sure of.

* * *

 **So that's it! Please tell me what you think! :D**

 **Hugs and snowflakes!**

 **Pips**


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